Reuters AlertNet Lite - Yemen says 7 troops, 25 rebels killed in clashes

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Yemen says 7 troops, 25 rebels killed in clashes

18 Mar 2007 16:56:20 GMT
Source: Reuters

SANAA, March 18 (Reuters) - Yemen said on Sunday seven soldiers and at least 25 Shi'ite rebels had been killed in clashes in the past two days, despite calls on the rebels to put down their weapons after six weeks of fighting.

A government official said the troops were killed in battles with followers of Shi'ite Muslim rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in remote mountains in the north of the country.

"Leaflets have been dropped from the air asking people to hand in their arms and vowing they would not be detained," the official said.

It was not immediately possible to get comment from Houthi's followers.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has rejected talks with the rebels and urged them to surrender to end the violence.

Government officials say at least 275 rebels and 124 soldiers have been killed in the clashes this year. Houthi's followers say the official figures of rebel losses are inflated but give no numbers of their own.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Houthi's supporters are not linked to al Qaeda.

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Last updated:Sun Mar 18 16:57:05 2007